Narrative adventure with puzzles and 2,5D platforms; This is the new SkyBox Labs proposal that now comes to PC and Switch after its debut on iOS and Xbox One.
Indie-style atmospheric experiences have earned over time the right to be considered a genre in its own right, especially thanks to Playdead's excellence with its two celebrated plays, Limbo and Inside. Not a few studies have tried to emulate this style with their proposals, often with discreet results. Now, Stela intends to make a place for herself among many other titles with her arrival on PC and Switch after their original release on iOS and Xbox One devices last fall. Let's see in our review if Stela offers everything you'd expect from a 2.5D cinematic-style platformer with some concessions to puzzles and stealth.
Dreamlike journey as beautiful as it is disturbing
Once at the controls of Stela, we quickly get an idea of what he proposes throughout his approximate 2 hours of play, a journey starring a mysterious woman who sets out on a flight in the midst of destroying her ancient world. Its mechanics respond to what is expected of a 2.5D platforms of this style, as its creators define it, an atmospheric cinematic adventure, in which we will have to overcome certain sections of classic platforms, some more than obvious puzzles, others Stealth sections in which to hide from certain creatures, dodge deadly traps or flee from other monsters of colossal dimensions, among other actions.
Making use of the classic lateral scroll, the adventure unfolds throughout the most varied locations, from dark and humid caves to cold and icy places, passing by ruined towns, gloomy forests or decaying temples, among many other settings, a point in favor that makes its development more bearable, without a doubt. However, the absence of a real challenge and the repetition of situations tarnish the feelings that the title aims to convey as a whole. And it is that Stela's mechanics do not go much beyond running, jumping, hiding and activating certain switches. All in all, the objective of the title is none other than to immerse ourselves in its dreamlike universe and transmit to us the feelings of a protagonist in constant danger. And certainly at some points it does.
Stela's contemplative character is enhanced by her staging, which takes the witness from other similar titles with an atmospheric setting. Resources such as chiaroscuro are represented in various phases of the game, thus enhancing sensations in borderline contexts, as well as the use of different color palettes depending on the situations in which we find ourselves. Thanks to this, the video game constantly plays with all kinds of visual stimuli and which, without a doubt, are much more effective thanks to its soundtrack. And it is that in this sense, the music and the different sound effects play a fundamental role, perfectly accompanying the action shown on the screen.
And it is that both the musical setting and the actions we carry out are fully calculated, almost as if they were scripts; In this sense, Stela's development is too pigeonholed, leaving the gameplay in the background in favor of the narrative itself, with little room for maneuver. And here lies one of his greatest setbacks; So much so, that despite the limited interaction that it proposes, the sensations at the controls never convince one hundred percent, either due to a precision at the controls of the protagonist with a lot of room for improvement (especially in jumps) or by somewhat crude animations that do not help in this sense, something that is noted in stealth sections, when we flee in pursuit or when we try to overcome stretches of deadly traps. This is when the trial-and-error mechanics come into play, although given its nonexistent difficulty, it will not become a major problem either.
Many of the puzzles or challenges will be solved virtually alone, either by activating levers, creating shadow patterns with objects, or interacting with elements on the stage; So much so that even, in some situations, we will solve them inadvertently, almost by inertia, thus evidencing their marked cinematographic character. On the other hand, other stealth challenges do not require great skill at the controls, since just by following the basic patterns of each enemy we can overcome them with little difficulty. Such is its narrative aspect that there are even two achievements of the game that encourage us to complete the adventure without dying or in less than 90 minutes, both very accessible in a second pass.
The title, despite its good intentions in transmitting sensations and proposing extreme situations, never stops taking off at the narrative level, especially due to a general ambiguity that offers more questions than answers. What is the title referring to, Stela? If we attend to one of the definitions of wake we can deduce that it alludes to certain elements that we are discovering through the different scenarios in our dangerous journey. But what is our protagonist running from? What world are we in? What's really going on? Too many questions are left without an answer that manages to harmonize its main elements: story context and puzzles.
And it is that SkyBox Labs fails to put in order the different concepts that his work manages, confusing the player with all kinds of disconnected elements; and it is not deliberately done. Without revealing anything of its history, Stela will take us to overcome different challenges in extremely different locations; The same happens with the different types of creatures that will try to hunt us, as well as elements of the scenarios that will put us in serious trouble. All these pieces do not end up fitting into the narrative puzzle itself and do not go beyond simple but constant challenges that we must overcome. Without further ado.
On a technical level, beyond its obvious visual appeal through a remarkable art direction, the game does not boast of great graphic boasts, with very simple modeling (excessively in certain aspects) and animations, as we say, quite improvable. At the performance level, and taking into account its general simplicity, it also suffers from certain framerate drops that, without being worrying, can be annoying at certain points.
Where it does manage to stand out is in its correct sound setting, as we noted earlier, one of its most positive points. Whether for a soundtrack that accompanies us in a great way through constant changes of rhythm, adapting its personality to the events that are happening before our eyes. The sound effects also seem convincing, giving that extra punch of forcefulness that perfectly matches everything that happens on screen. Very good in this regard.
CONCLUSION
As its title suggests, Stela pretends to be in itself a stele in its own genre, a kind of monument in the form of a pedestal that indicates a path (an element also present in the game itself, without entering into guts), but not that comes to shine as we would like. It is evident that it offers aspects to stand out, either for its careful and accurate soundtrack or the dreamlike and mysterious world it raises, but as a whole it does not manage to establish itself above other much more solid and balanced proposals, both in development and in execution. An adventure too ephemeral with good moments but that does not leave the residue that we do find in greats of the genre such as those mentioned at the beginning of the Reviews.
THE BEST
- Artistic design with bold prints
- Great soundtrack
- Mystery universe that arouses interest
WORST
- Somewhat awkward and imprecise gameplay
- Short duration with no development time
- Does not add novelty or surprise to the formula
Right
It is not the latest or most original, nor does it have the best execution, but it can be fun if you like the genre. Good, but upgradeable.
